Resource type

Text

Abstract [en]

Thin films of inorganic materials are essential to several technologies we take for granted in our everyday lives. They form the basis of touch screens in smart phones and the electronic components in computers. Dating back more than a century, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is one of the most common methods to form these films. In CVD, the atoms needed for the thin film are typically supplied by a continuous flow of gaseous precursor molecules and incorporated into the film by gas phase and surface chemical reactions. The continuous demand for more precise thin film fabrication on more complex shapes at lower temperatures sets a demand for more advanced CVD methods. The development of better designed precursor molecules is one important path to evolve CVD; the other path is to evolve the way in which we do CVD. In this perspective I will describe how using time as a fourth dimension in CVD can enable fabrication of new thin film materials and material structures at lower temperatures and on more complex substrate geometries by accessing new types of CVD chemistries available in time-resolved CVD.